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Plaque recognizing Woolf’s time in St. Ives installed today

Posted in events, St. Ives, Talland House, tagged , , , , , on Sunday 11 September 2022| 2 Comments »

The heritage plaque noting the literary historical significance of Talland House was unveiled at 3 p.m. (BST) today before a capacity crowd at Talland House, Virginia Woolf’s summertime home in St. Ives from 1882-1894.

Woolf’s father, Leslie Stephen, had the lease on Talland House from 1878-1895.

About the plaque

The plaque, which marks Woolf’s childhood time in St. Ives, was unveiled as part of the St. Ives September Festival.

The first in the black and white colors of the Cornwall flag, the plaque is the product of a long-running campaign by the Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain, led by Woolf scholar Maggie Humm and the St. Ives Town Council.

The plague received unanimous support from St. Ives Town Council as well as from local MP Derek Thomas.

The Council, together with Talland House’s owner Peter Eddy and the society, hosted the sold-out event, which was fully booked within hours of being announced. The event included a reading by Humm from her novel Talland House (2020).

More Woolf events part of St. Ives September Festival

Two other events related to Woolf are part of the September Festival, which runs Sept. 10-24. They include:

  • A talk titled “Virginia Woolf: Memories of St Ives “by Sarah Latham Phillips, a member of the executive council of the Virginia Woolf Society, at 2 p.m. on Sept. 13 at Porthmeor Studios. Tickets are £6.
  • A tour of the Talland House Gardens conducted by Polly Carter at 10 a.m. on Sept. 21. Tickets are £6. Book by emailing poll.carter1@googlemail.com
Professor Maggie Humm, vice-chair of the Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain, and Councillor Johnnie Wells, Deputy Mayor of St. Ives at the Talland House plaque unveiling today. Humm read from her 2020 novel Talland House at the event. Photo: St. Ives September Festival

 

 

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Talland House plaque to commemorate Virginia Woolf

Posted in place, Talland House, tagged , , , , , on Tuesday 15 February 2022| 2 Comments »

View of the front right corner of Talland House (2004)

Never underestimate the power of a Virginia Woolf scholar who has a Virginia Woolf society behind her.

Thanks to the efforts of Maggie Humm, a member of the executive council of the Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain, a plaque commemorating the time Virginia Woolf spent in St. Ives, Cornwall, will be installed at Talland House.

Humm, author of the novel Talland House,was a major force behind the effort. She advocated for the move by providing St. Ives Town Council with useful and persuasive information about the summers Woolf spent at Talland House until the age of 12.

We first reported news about this effort last October. But now, we have more details and photos to share, as tweeted by @MaggieHumm1.

Timeline of the effort and fundraising

According to a story in the Jan. 28, 2022, issue of The St Ives Times & Echo, the British society first submitted a proposal for such a plaque in October of 2020. However, the Town Council did not support it due to lack of funding.

Cornwall Council and local MP Derek Thomas supported later requests from the VWSGB, which resulted in the St. Ives Town Council reversing its stand. Last month, the Council learned that the owner of Talland House also supported the move and the Council approved it by an unanimous vote.

The plaque, which will be black, will be hand-fired in Cornwall. It will be installed on the right-hand side of the east elevation on the second story of the house.

Funding details have yet to be established, but St. Ives Town Council, in partnership with the VWSGB, has launched a fundraising effort on Spacehive.

Part of a heritage trail?

Woolf’s plaque may be part of a larger effort in St. Ives, one that would use the plaques to recognize other notable people that are part of the town’s heritage.

If the heritage tied up in this remarkable property had been fully understood at an early time it may well have become the town’s main ‘heritage asset’. – “Virginia Woolf to finally be celebrated on a plaque at Talland House,” The St Ives Times & Echo, Jan. 28, 2022.

Front page of the Jan. 28, 2022, issue of the St Ives Times & Echo

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Plaque at Talland House will honor Virginia Woolf

Posted in St. Ives, tagged , , , , , on Saturday 30 October 2021| Leave a Comment »

Several blue plaques commemorate London addresses at which members of the Bloomsbury Group, including Virginia Woolf, lived. Now a similar plaque — in black — will recognize Talland House, Virginia Woolf’s summertime residence in St. Ives, Cornwall.

Jean Moorcroft Wilson on the doorstep of 46 Gordon Square, Woolf’s first Bloomsbury home during #DallowayDay2018. A blue plaque noting the significance of the site is to the right of the front door.

The news, shared by Woolf scholar Maggie Humm, author of the novel Talland House, came via the VWoolfListserv, as well as social media.

Her message to the Listserv stated:

Virginia Woolf is to have a plaque on Talland House St Ives. Following my research and many requests (for the VWSGB) St Ives Town Council has just voted unanimously in support. I was able, additionally, to secure the support of the local MP. The plaque will be black (in line with Cornwall’s flag) not blue as London plaques. More details of dates/funding/design to follow.

Blue Plaque at 29 Fitzroy Square, London, where Virginia and Adrian Stephen lived from 1907-1911.

Blue plaque noting that Virginia and Leonard Woolf lived at Hogarth House, Richmond from 1915-1924 and founded the Hogarth Press there in 1917.

The blue plaque on the side of the Tavistock Hotel commemorating Virginia and Leonard Woolf’s tenure at 52 Tavistock Square, London. It was draped in blue at its unveiling in 2018.

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Glimpses of St. Ives in the time of Virginia Woolf

Posted in films, St. Ives, You Tube, tagged , , , on Wednesday 30 June 2021| Leave a Comment »

For anyone who reads and loves Virginia Woolf, St. Ives is a magical place. Take a trip back in time by viewing old footage of that Cornish town.
  • From the BBC iPlayer comes “Cornwall: This Fishing Life,” with series 2, episode 4, focusing on St. Ives. It includes old black and white film footage of the place where Woolf and the Stephen family spent their summers until she was 12.
  • Nineteen seconds of color film footage of St. Ives from Claude Friese-Greene’s The Open Road (1926) a fascinating social record of inter-war Britain. The St. Ives snippet below is available on the British Film Industry‘s YouTube Channel.
  • And just for fun, check out the video below of a model railroad version of St. Ives, circa the 1950s, created by a former St. Ives resident. In this eight-minute video, he adds his own memories, along with details about constructing the layout. Stuart Clarke of the Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain shared this video and notes that we “may” be able to see Talland House at the 4-minute, 32-second mark.

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Virginia Woolf events postponed until 2021

Posted in events, Virginia Woolf, Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain, tagged , , , , , , on Sunday 16 August 2020| Leave a Comment »

The Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain has postponed two events until next year, due to the coronavirus.
  1. The Virginia Woolf Short Stories Conference and General Meeting, originally scheduled for this Oct. 17, will instead be held Saturday April 10, 2021, from 10:30 a.m. – 4 p.m., with registration beginning at 10 a.m.
    Venue: Oriental Club, First Floor, 11 Stratford Place, London WIC IES, opposite Bond Street tube.
    Cost: £35 Members, students & conc., £38 non-members. Lunch and refreshments are included. The event is sold out but please email latham_phillips@yahoo.com if you would like to join a waiting list. Please note any member is welcome to attend the AGM at 2 p.m.
  2. The Virginia Woolf and St. Ives Conference, originally scheduled for this fall, will instead be held Thursday, Oct. 7, to Sunday, Oct. 10. For members only.
    Venue: Porthmeor Studios, Back Road West, St Ives, TR26 1NG, Cornwall.
    Details: The conference will include talks on To the Lighthouse, Virginia in St Ives, Julia Stephen, St. Ives Artists and Writers and St. Ives local history. Visits to the Tate St. Ives, Talland House garden and Zennor will be part of the conference. Accommodations to be booked by attendees. Two dinners will be booked in St. Ives, with lunch and refreshments provided during the day. The timetable is designed around the Paddington train.
St. Ives bay

St. Ives Bay, June 2004

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